Dog Tags

CHAPTER 56

IT WAS A SURREAL MOMENT FOR RAYMOND SANTIAGO. For weeks he had been holed up in a motel room just outside Detroit, spending all his time watching television, venturing out only long enough to get food and newspapers. Ever since he heard about the Erskine killing, he had behaved like a man on the run, because running was what he believed necessary to survive.

It wasn’t just Erskine’s death that sent him into a panic. Erskine was an asshole; the kind of guy at whom many people would want to take a shot. And Greer had mentioned that Erskine might try a new scheme of his own as a way to get rich. What was more disconcerting to Santiago was his inability to reach the others, Lawson, Chambers, Iverson, and Greer.

They had agreed to keep in contact, so they could better monitor the situation. The army could not prove anything other than negligence in Iraq, and their subsequent discharge actually did them a favor. With the kind of money each of them received for their efforts, the last place they wanted to be was the army.

But Santiago was a man who trusted his gut instincts, and the combination of Erskine’s murder and his inability to reach the others filled that gut with certainty and dread. So he went to Detroit, where he had no connections whatsoever, paid cash to stay in a dive of a motel, and almost never went out. There was no way anyone could find him.

That all changed the night that a stunned Raymond Santiago watched that lawyer show his picture and say his name on national television. Raymond was keenly aware that in that moment, his future was drastically altered. Now there were a million people, maybe more, looking for him. Now the supermarket cashier, the motel chambermaid, the guy selling newspaper on the corner… they were all enemies.

Raymond was going to be found, maybe by someone sent to kill him, but more likely by the public. They would locate him for the lawyer, and then his cover would be blown. He had no fear of the law at this point; he wasn’t even charged with anything. He was afraid of exposure, because that could lead to the same fate for him that it had likely brought to his friends.

Staying underground was no longer an option for Raymond. He was going to come out of hiding, and was willing to reveal all that he knew, in return for ironclad immunity and protections. The only question was whether to go to the authorities or that Carpenter guy.

He couldn’t be sure what would happen to him if he went to the authorities. He knew how high up the corruption went; in a way he would be walking into the enemy camp, and might never be heard from again.

Carpenter was another story. He only cared about getting his client off the hook on the Erskine murder. Raymond was a key to that, and Carpenter would want to protect him. And he obviously had the public visibility to expose anyone who got in his way.

Raymond was again going to trust his instincts. Carpenter was the way to go.

M watched the Larry King interview as well, hoping Carpenter would inadvertently say something he could use. His hope came to fruition, though it was a decidedly mixed bag.

He was not particularly concerned that the sketch of him was shown. It was far from an exact likeness when it was done, and he looked considerably different now. Then he had a mustache and small beard; now he was clean-shaven. He had also changed his hair color, and the overall effect was to make him unlikely to be recognized by the average citizen. Since law enforcement had been in possession of the sketch for a while, there was little about the televised release that was particularly threatening.

More concerning was that Carpenter had only shown photos of Greer, Iverson, and Santiago, and not Lawson or Chambers. Since he clearly was looking for them because of their potential involvement in the Iraqi explosion, the fact that he was not looking for the other two was a sign that he already knew their fate. That was unfortunate, but increased his level of respect for Carpenter as an adversary.

But outweighing all of this was M’s pleasure that Carpenter had revealed Santiago’s photograph to the world. He knew that Santiago was not particularly good under pressure, and this would likely panic him and draw him out. And when he came out, he would be committing suicide.

M’s frustrating search for Santiago was soon to come to an end, courtesy of Andy Carpenter.

It took Raymond Santiago until ten o’clock the next morning to completely settle on his strategy for survival. Once he did, he drove forty miles outside of Detroit before stopping at a pay phone. If it didn’t work out, he didn’t want the call to be traced back to the motel.

He dialed the number that Carpenter had broadcast on the TV show, and it was answered on the third ring.

“Hello?”

He was surprised that it was a woman’s voice, but didn’t hang up. “I want to talk to the lawyer… Carpenter.”

“He’s in court. Who’s calling?”

Santiago hesitated, not sure what to do.

“Is this Raymond Santiago?” Laurie asked.

Another hesitation, then, “Yeah.”

“I can help you, Raymond.”